The statue of Qin Feng himself, now ranked first in the Heroic Spirit Hall, didn’t cause any public waves on Qiming First High School’s private network.

The Heroic Spirit Hall itself was a hidden, ultimate Trial Ground, open only to the strongest.

From the very beginning, only one person ever had the right to enter and see the 372 legendary shadows within: the "Strongest of the Year," the student ranked first among the third-years on the real-time private network leaderboard.

Now that Qin Feng’s strength had reached the summit and he had left his own shadow, only future first-ranked third-years would be qualified to challenge the Heroic Spirit Hall and discover his success.

Therefore, besides the teachers, no one else had discovered that Qin Feng had successfully left his shadow and surpassed a legend.

As far as Qin Feng was concerned, this was a good thing.

He didn’t care for empty fame. To him, the greatest significance of taking first place in the Heroic Spirit Hall was that it marked a milestone on his long and arduous path of cultivation, a milestone named "Surpassing My Benefactor."

More importantly, that exhilarating, bare-handed deathmatch against the shadow of Sun Chan Hall had allowed him to see his future path with unprecedented clarity. It was no longer about simply pursuing the ultimate breakthrough in a single "point," but about using countless "points"—just like Master Sun—to construct an invulnerable "surface" of his own.

With his goal clear, all that remained was the relentless, painstaking training, day after day.

Time flowed by quickly amidst such disciplined and quiet cultivation.

「In the blink of an eye, it was the night before the official start of the Qiming School-Level League.」

...

Private Martial Arts Room B-17.

His training for the day complete, Qin Feng sat cross-legged on a cushion, a faint hint of steam still rising from his body. He opened his wrist-mounted terminal and dialed a number he knew by heart.

The light screen flickered, and soon, two familiar faces appeared in the holographic projection.

One was his father, Qin Dahai.

He was wearing a brand-new, crisp middle-management uniform from the mining area. His hair was impeccably combed, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to have smoothed out. He looked revitalized and full of spirit.

The other was his uncle, Wang Ming.

He, too, had changed into a more respectable set of clothes. The exhaustion and harshness from his days of struggling at the bottom were long gone, replaced by a pride and joy that came from deep within.

Ever since Qin Feng had started to distinguish himself at Qiming First High School and achieve one astonishing result after another, their lives and careers had undergone earth-shattering changes.

This was the truest law of the Empire: when one person succeeds, everyone connected to them rises as well.

The value of a single genius was enough to radiate outward and change the fates of everyone around them.

"Xiaofeng!"

"Feng!"

Seeing Qin Feng’s image, Qin Dahai and Wang Ming spoke at almost the same time, their faces beaming with undisguised concern and pride.

"Dad, Uncle."

A soft smile appeared on Qin Feng’s face as well.

In front of his family, he was always the steady, sensible child, not the "Great Demon King" that made the entire school tremble.

"Tomorrow is the Qiming School-Level League."

He got straight to the point of the call. "Remember to watch the official ’Qiming Spectator’ livestream."

"The School-Level League! Great! That’s great!"

Wang Ming slapped his thigh and laughed heartily. "We’ve been waiting for this day! Don’t you worry, the factory knows about it and gave us the day off. We’re going to the ’Qiming Spectator’ building to watch the livestream and cheer you on!"

"Definitely, definitely."

Qin Dahai nodded repeatedly, his gaze fixed on his son’s face, his eyes full of fatherly love and relief.

But deep down, he also harbored a father’s unspoken worry.

He had looked it up. The senior division of the Qiming School-Level League brought together the top geniuses from every Martial Arts High School on the entire planet of Qiming Star.

The competition there was far more brutal than in the freshmen tournament.

In the contest for this year’s and future Qiming General Stars, there would even be Martial Artists from other schools who would go on killing sprees to eliminate talented rivals ahead of time.

Although it was extremely rare, it wasn’t unheard of.

After a moment of silence, Qin Dahai couldn’t help but ask in the calmest tone he could manage, "Xiaofeng, your... your strength right now, how is it? Are you confident about this competition? Don’t force yourself. Safety comes first."

Hearing his father’s question warmed Qin Feng’s heart.

"Don’t worry, Dad."

He replied calmly, "My life force index just recently reached 30.0. I’m already at the limit for a Third-level Martial Artist."

"Thir... thirty?!"

The expressions on Qin Dahai and Wang Ming’s faces instantly froze.

They could hardly believe their ears.

"Th-that’s not all."

Seeing their utterly shocked expressions, Qin Feng thought for a moment and decided to give them even more peace of mind. He continued, "My two main slaughter arts, the Thousand Army Spear and the Vicious Bird Fist Style, have both broken through to the Realm of Control."

If the phrase "limit of a Third-level Martial Artist" had merely brought Qin Dahai and Wang Ming immense shock...

...then the words "Realm of Control" were like a bolt of lightning that struck them squarely in the mind.

Control!

What was that?

That was the legendary Slaughter Realm that countless Martial Artists spent their entire lives yearning to reach!

In their understanding, just cultivating a slaughter art to the level of Perfection was enough to be considered a genius of incredible rarity.